Question REgarding Computer Performance

Alright I know there are some guys out there that know something more about computers than I do so here it goes. I have a fairly new lap top, ati radeon express 200m grafics card. When it comes to video games for example, some work but very slowly, it looks like there are very lows frames per second. I have 1 g of ram memory and the computer runs great. But when it comes to games with decent grafics it runs slow as heck, even older games from 4 years or so ago. I had an older lap top and never had this problem.

I updated my drivers and did a memory test, nothing helped. Any ideas/thoughts? or where I can ask this question?

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

It's probably because it's a laptop, they're notorious for pretty much sucking as far as gaming goes. You may want to try and adjust the video settings in the games to reduce shadows/draw distance, that kind of thing, and that may help. Or get a different video card and try that route.

We don't bother with games on our laptop, we use our desktop computer for that sort of thing. Laptops also overheat easily, especially when running games and it's annoying at best to try to play them.

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Ya your probably right actually, I was thinking the same. plus it has a AMD processor and those tend to suck, as far as they go I've always had trouble with them.

Intel is better from my experiance.

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Totally agree.

One thing I do with my laptop is elevate it a little bit so the fan gets good airflow. And every now and then we have to open it up and clean out the pet hair/dust from it, but I don't recommend doing that for someone who hasn't built/worked on computers before. I think Staples can do that for something like $30.

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I would try just setting your resolution low, then try it. You wont get the same " Cool " factor but it should ? run smoother. Cool

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A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Also, never under estimate doing a disk cleanup/defrag. It really does wonders for a computer's performance.

I run all my scans every Sunday, from virus to spyware to the defrag and it keeps my computer in tip top shape. It's also good to do a purge of old stuff now and then too, followed by a defrag. Doesn't take much to clog up a computer with worthless crap.

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	Stephanie wrote:
	Also, never under estimate doing a disk cleanup/defrag. It really does wonders for a computer's performance. I run all my scans every Sunday, from virus to spyware to the defrag and it keeps my computer in tip top shape. It's also good to do a purge of old stuff now and then too, followed by a defrag. Doesn't take much to clog up a computer with worthless crap.

You are right, Steph. Smile

Or should I call you "Trojan"? Wink

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

Haha, it's the logo for the Ottawa Senators.

Sorry, I only think of one thing when I hear trojan and it ain't hockey.

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Oh well, I guess we'll just stick to "Steph". Cool

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

	Stephanie wrote:
	Haha, it's the logo for the Ottawa Senators. Sorry, I only think of one thing when I hear trojan and it ain't hockey.

Are you talking about that Big wooden horse ?? ..... you lost me with that ?. ..... Laughing

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Last edited by Drummer Dave on Fri Nov 16, 2007 1:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

Yeaaaah. The horse...riiiight. Wink

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	Stephanie wrote:
	Yeaaaah. The horse...riiiight.

> lol, i thought so Steph Cool

Giddy Up !! Yeee Haaaa !!

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
We are Known By The Tracks we Leave Behind
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

	Stephanie wrote:
	Also, never under estimate doing a disk cleanup/defrag. It really does wonders for a computer's performance. I run all my scans every Sunday, from virus to spyware to the defrag and it keeps my computer in tip top shape. It's also good to do a purge of old stuff now and then too, followed by a defrag. Doesn't take much to clog up a computer with worthless crap.

Would you explain how to do all this?

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-Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.
-"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can"~John Wesley

Survivor Kid 909 wrote:

	Stephanie wrote:
	Also, never under estimate doing a disk cleanup/defrag. It really does wonders for a computer's performance. I run all my scans every Sunday, from virus to spyware to the defrag and it keeps my computer in tip top shape. It's also good to do a purge of old stuff now and then too, followed by a defrag. Doesn't take much to clog up a computer with worthless crap.

Would you explain how to do all this?

Sure I can do that, since I am a comp maintainece junky.

There is a lot you can do to make your computer run better.

before I get itnto that, ya steph I clean out my comp a lot, and I did lower resolution, but on well, no change.

Thats ok though, no biggie.

Anyways want better perforance? Well here is what you can do:

1) Spyware Check

- Get a program that checks for spyware, I use AVG anti-spy, it gets rid of spyware and will speed up your comp

2) System Optimizer

- I use Ashampoo Winoptimizer for this, it gets rid of unused files, duplicates etc. This can save you a lot of space on your computer. The more space, the faster it is. When I first did this I actually removed a whole gig! Now it removes like 100-300 mb, which is still good but I do it every week.

3) Registry Cleaner

- I use registry medic, fixes all registry problems, it all adds up.

4) Virus Scan

- A virus can do horrible things, checking for them once in a while is good.

5) Degragment

- Defrag your computer from time to time (montly is what i do). Software comes witht he computer just got to Start>Programs>accesories>systemtools>diskdefragment. Choose your drive your files are on (ushally C or D). It can take about 2 hours.

6) Error Check

- Ever turn your computer off wrong and when you turn it on scan disk turns on? I use scan disk once in a while go to My computer>right click on your hardrive>Properties>tools>Check Errors>Now just select the first box (fix errors) but not the second. And Scan.

All this stuff can make your computer faster.

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Under systemtools there is no diskdefragmentaion or w/e, the only thing is Internet Explorer, what should I do?

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-Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.
-"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can"~John Wesley

	Survivor Kid 909 wrote:
	Under systemtools there is no diskdefragmentaion or w/e, the only thing is Internet Explorer, what should I do?

Try the Help that came on the computer. Search for defragment. Smile

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

Thanks, its going now. I am trying to get my computer to work good again. I got a virus awhile back and its still eating me!

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-Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.
-"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can"~John Wesley

No prob, bud. Cool

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. - Prov. 27:17

Don't forget to do a spyware scan. I use SpyBot, it's a free download and free to update. That's another thing, always run an update on your virus program and spyware program, before running.

Here's the link for spybot: http://www.spybot.net/en/download/index.html

Download the first one available on the list, the SpyBot Search and Destroy 1.5.1 Click on the icon that says Download (the little box with the arrow).

Ignore everything else on that page, especially the PayPal and credit card stuff, unless you want to donate to the site (which couldn't hurt, donations keep it free for us to use.)

A lot of times, when a computer is running really slow, it's spyware. That and needing to run a disk cleanup and defrag. If you run the defrags weekly, they shouldn't take as long. It takes hours when you only do it once a month or less.

Also, for virus programs, if you're using Norton, make sure that's the only anti-virus program running on your computer, as Norton has some issues with incompatibility with other anti-virus programs. We don't use Norton for that reason, basically it's a crappy program and causes more problems than it's worth. You also need to make sure you run a scan for anti-virus, most of them don’t scan your computer themselves, unless you set it up to do so.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now...sorry guys, I know a bit about computers and fixing annoying problems.

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Thanks guys! Have do I do a disk cleanup?

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-Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.
-"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can"~John Wesley